EWC Counter-Strike outperformed Riyadh Masters in viewership during NAVI’s triumph

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Riyadh is cementing its position as the world's premier hub for esports with each passing year. This summer, the Saudi Arabian capital is hosting more than 20 esports tournaments boasting a total prize pool of $60 million. Dota 2 and Counter-Strike continue to lead the way, particularly popular among Western audiences. While Dota 2 attracted the most viewers last year, this year Counter-Strike has taken center stage.

The recent Esports World Cup 2024 drew widespread attention due to its star-studded lineup and the intrigue surrounding G2 Esports' new roster. Viewers eagerly watched to see how the team, led by legendary Polish player Snax as their new captain, would fare with two fresh additions.

The playoffs delivered unexpected results. Team Vitality suffered a surprising defeat to Virtus.pro after a gripping series on Mirage that extended into several overtime rounds. In other matches, G2 Esports ousted Team Spirit, and Natus Vincere eliminated FaZe Clan.

The ultimate showdown featured G2 Esports against Natus Vincere, two teams with a history of intense rivalry. Despite numerous encounters over the past year and a half, G2 had never managed to overcome the Ukrainian club, and this time proved no different. Natus Vincere triumphed with a 2:1 scoreline.

This victory marks NAVI's second major tournament win in 2024, following Aleksib's triumph at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. In total, NAVI has already amassed over a million dollars in prize money this year alone.

The grand final between NAVI and G2 peaked at over 756,700 concurrent viewers, twice the viewership of any other match in the tournament. On average, the broadcasts attracted 237,600 concurrent viewers.

Despite a tentative beginning, the Esports World Cup 2024 exceeded last year's Gamers8 2023 in main metrics: average viewership grew by nearly 8%, and peak viewership surged by 76%. Though last year's tournament had slightly more total Hours Watched, this was mainly due to variations in airtime.

Esports World Cup 2024 (CS) and Gamers8 2023 comparison

Several noteworthy changes marked this year's Esports World Cup coverage. YouTube's audience share notably increased from 10.6% to 15.8% of total tournament HW. In contrast, the percentage of English broadcasts decreased from 44% to 36%. Despite the shift, the Counter-Strike tournament emerged as the leader in peak viewership among all Esports World Cup events on English streams.

Russian language streams saw a modest rise, increasing their share from 24% to 27% of total HW. Notably, streamer shadowkekw made a significant impact by collaborating with s1mple, Evelone, and other creators during the final, attracting 107,100 concurrent viewers to his channel. This achievement positioned it as the second most popular channel covering the tournament and marked the second most viewed stream in shadowkekw's career.

Esports World Cup 2024 showcased substantial growth in peak viewership compared to Gamers8 2023, largely attributed to community casters. For instance, ohnePixel, the primary English community caster for the game, experienced significant viewer growth. The event also featured broadcasts from well-known streamers like xQc, forsen, shroud, izakooo, and Gaules. In total, the tournament in Riyadh was covered by over 100 unique channels, a notable increase from the 80 channels of Gamers8 2023.

A special highlight goes to EWC_CS, the main official English channel of the tournament, which peaked at 143.5 thousand viewers this year, setting a personal record and solidifying its status as the most popular channel by this metric.

Most popular Esports World Cup 2024 tournaments by Peak Viewers

In terms of popularity this year, Esports World Cup 2024 currently holds the fourth position among Counter-Strike tournaments. Larger audiences have been drawn only to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, IEM Katowice 2024, and IEM Dallas 2024. However, with several major tournaments still scheduled in the discipline before the year concludes, these rankings are likely to shift.

Most popular Counter-Strike tournaments in 2024

The grand final of the Counter-Strike tournament coincided somewhat with the Riyadh Masters 2024 final, which affected the viewer statistics for the Dota 2 event. For more detailed insights, refer to our article summarizing Riyadh Masters 2024.